Lydus, 4. 42, adds ‘Nerine,’ and further tells us that this was the last day on which the _ancilia_ were ‘moved’ (κίνησις τῶν ὅπλων). The Salii were also active on the 24th (Fest. 278). Footnote 178: The note is thus completed by Mommsen from Varro, _L. L._ 6. 31 ‘Dies qui vocatur sic, Quando Rex Comitiavit Fas, is dictus ab eo quod eo die rex sacrificulus itat [we should probably read _litat_] ad comitium, ad quod tempus est nefas, ab eo fas’ (see Marq. 323, note 8). The MS. has ‘_dicat_ ad comitium.’ If we adopt _litat_ with Hirschfeld and Jordan, we are not on that account committed to the belief corrected in Praen., that it was on this day and May 24 that the Rex fled after sacrificing in _comitio_ (see Hartmann, _Röm. Kal._ 162 foll.). The question will be discussed under Feb. 24. Footnote 179: _Röm. Chronol._ p. 241; _Staatsrecht_, iii. 375. Footnote 180: Gaius, 2. 101 ‘Comitia calata quae bis in anno testamentis faciendis destinata erant.’ Cp. Maine, _Ancient Law_, 199. Footnote 181: It may have been of Etruscan origin: Müller-Deecke, _Etrusker_, ii. 206. A special kind of _tuba_ seems to have been used at funerals: Gell. _N. A._ 20. 2; Marq. _Privatleben_, i. 341. Footnote 182: For the military use, Liv. ii. 64. They were also used in _sacris Saliaribus_ Paul. 19, s. v. Armilustrium. Wissowa (_de Feriis_ xv) mentions a relief in which the Salii are preceded by _tubicines laureati_ (published in St. Petersburgh by E. Schulze, 1873). Footnote 183: _C. I. L._ 313. He is of opinion that the note was among those ‘non tam a Verrio scriptas quam male ex scriptis eius excerptas.’ Footnote 184: _de Div._ i. 17. 30. Footnote 185: Varro, _L. L._ 5. 91. MENSIS APRILIS. There can hardly be a doubt that this month takes its name, not from a deity, but from the verb _aperio_; the etymology is as old as Varro and Verrius, and seems perfectly natural[186]. The year was opening and the young corn and the young cattle were growing. It was therefore a critical time for crops and herds; but there was not much to be done by man to secure their safety. The crops might be hoed and cleaned[187], but must for the most part be left to the protection of the gods. The oldest festivals of the month, the Robigalia and Fordicidia, clearly had this object. So also with the cattle; _oves lustrantur_, say the rustic calendars[188]; and such a _lustratio_ of the cattle of the ancient Romans survived in the ceremonies of the Parilia.